Thousands and thousands of empty seats greeted television viewers who tuned in to watch the Arizona-Oklahoma State football game at Arizona Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
With the temperature in Tucson hovering around 85 at kickoff and exceeding 100 degrees on the playing surface, the Wildcats breezed past the Cowboys 41-13 in front of an announced crowd of 40,685 at the 50,800-seat stadium, although the Arizona Daily Star reported that “the stadium was half-full, at best.”
Suffice it to say that scene won’t be repeated this Saturday night in the desert, as No. 18 BYU invades Arizona Stadium for a Big 12 showdown with the surprising Wildcats, who have already matched last season’s win total. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. local time, so it might not be as hot as it was the first Saturday of October, but it will still be a cooker.
And the stadium will be considerably more full and lively, as BYU travels well, and also because Arizona coach Brett Brennan is already pleading for crowd support. The unranked Wildcats (1-1, 4-1) are saying this is their most important game in two years.
“We know these guys (BYU) really well and they have a great program,” Brennan said after Arizona matched its best start since it opened 4-1 in 2019. “Any time you have a chance to play a great program coming off a win, let’s go. It is going to be a big-time football game. I am excited to see the city of Tucson show out. … We are looking for Arizona Stadium to be the No. 1 game-day venue in college football in the whole country next Saturday.”
BYU (2-0, 5-0) opened as a 1.5-point favorite, but the number jumped to 2.5 on Sunday, according to the Action Network. However, CircaSports.com had the game as a pick-em (no favorite) in its opening lines released Sunday.
Before the season began, ESPN’s FPI gave BYU a 73.1% chance of winning. It is now at 69.7%, as BYU has continued its 2024 success, when it went 11-2, and Arizona has been better than expected.
BYU has won the last four matchups with Arizona, including a 41-19 romp last year in Provo in Arizona’s first season in the Big 12, and BYU’s second.
“Last year is last year,” said Arizona linebacker Max Harris after the Cats held Oklahoma State to just 158 yards and seven first downs. “Heading towards BYU, it is a faceless opponent. The next opponent on the schedule is whoever it is. We’re just going to play and give it 100% every time.”
Coming off a 39-14 loss at then-No. 14 Iowa State, Arizona handed OSU its 11th straight loss and was mostly solid in all three phases against the woeful Pokes.
Quarterback Noah Fifita completed only 26 of 52 passes last year against the Cougars, and was intercepted three times. But the redshirt junior from Huntington Beach, California, is playing much better this year, by all accounts.
Fifita completed 28 of 38 passes for 376 yards and five touchdowns in three quarters of work against Oklahoma State. Receiver Tre Spivey caught two of those TD passes.
While Arizona’s offense was racking up its most yards, 478, since a 2023 game against Arizona State, its defense did not allow a touchdown for the third game in 2025.
It is going to be a big-time football game. I am excited to see the city of Tucson show out.
— Arizona coach Brett Brennan
Oklahoma State’s TD came on a pick-six in the fourth quarter.
The Cougars jumped from No. 23 to No. 18 in the AP Top 25 poll released Sunday afternoon. Texas Tech is at No. 9, while other ranked Big 12 schools include Arizona State (No. 21) and Iowa State (No. 22). Cincinnati, Utah and TCU are receiving votes; Arizona will certainly get some if it can topple BYU for the first time since the 2008 Las Vegas Bowl.
Saturday’s game will mark BYU’s first trip to Tucson for football since the Cougars spoiled Kevin Sumlin’s Arizona debut with a 28-23 victory powered by Squally Canada and Tanner Mangum.
The Cougars are coming off a 38-24 win over West Virginia in which freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier threw for a career-high 351 yards and a touchdown with one interception — the first of his career.
Receiver Chase Roberts said the Cougars expect to his “more adversity later,” referring to upcoming contests against Arizona, Utah, Iowa State and Texas Tech.
“We are going to get together on Monday, and that is what we are going to talk about, is being more grateful and stepping it up in the joy we have playing the game,” Roberts said late Friday night. “I think that is going to be Kalani’s message, too. We learned a lot in this game. It was a great game for us (heading) into these tougher games coming up.”
The combined record of BYU’s first five opponents was 9-19.
The combined record of BYU’s next seven opponents — the aforementioned along with TCU, Cincinnati and Central Florida — is 29-7.
Cougars on the air
BYU (2-0, 5-0) at Arizona (1-1, 4-1)
• Saturday, 6 p.m. MDT
• At Arizona Stadium
• Tucson, Arizona
• TV: ESPN2
• Radio: 102.7 FM/1160 AM